Seeing Luang Prabang on Scooters

Across the street from our guesthouse was a woman who not only did laundry for a very reasonable price, but also rented scooters. Two scooters cost 32 dollars so early one morning, Ian and I set off to see and explore the area.

We went over a very long rickety old bridge and turned off the paved road onto a dirt one that snaked along the river. We made our way slowly through several small villages passing sleeping dogs and chickens pecking beside the dirt path. Eventually we ended back onto the busy paved road but this time, we passed the bridge and headed a different way.

The road took us by a hill with a temple so we did a U-turn and ventured on up. We parked our bikes near a building with some folks meditating and quietly made our way up the hill only to find the temple closed for lunch. A path led around to the back giving us a hazy view of the countryside.

Our journey took us into the country on some nice smooth roads up and down some small hills and onto some rough roads going through the town. At one point, I took the lead, thinking Ian was following me and headed off through a busy market and left onto a dirt road. Eventually I realized Ian wasn’t behind me and I had no idea where I was. Turns out, I had missed the turn for town and Ian had stopped hoping I would notice. After a failed attempt at communicating with some school girls I retraced my journey and parked the bike at the intersection I had last seen Ian. I didn’t wait long for him to show up and we continued onwards.

It was great fun booting around town. The driving was actually easy with the lane splitting going on – everyone seemed very aware of each other and what was going on around them. If there was a car parked ahead, you knew that people had to go around it so vehicles coming the other way would automatically move over providing plenty of room to go around the parked car. No one drove very fast either so this made things very easy.

For lunch we stopped at a Belgium restaurant and Ian had an amazing chicken kebab sandwich. The chicken was moist and incredibly flavourful. I asked the chef about the spices – but he couldn’t find all the English words to name the 12 he used. I had fries, which I seldom order, but Beckham had eaten them and said they were the best fries in Laos so of course I had to give them a go. They were quite yummy.

We visited a couple of book stores and then got back on the bikes. Down the road there was an ancient structure and temple so we stopped in to a have peak.

This was the mould blackened That that shared the property with a Wat that had been razed in the late 1800’s with looters taking off with most of the treasures. Inside we did find a few Buddha figures and this interesting character guarding the entrance.

That night, we headed to the infamous night market. The entire street shuts down and colourful tents appear along the sides and down the middle. Underneath were bamboo mats of purses, bags, wallets, scarves, lanterns, paper book covers, souvenirs, clothing specific to hill-tribes, tea, hats, slippers, embroidery, paintings, pipes, and parasols.

It was overwhelming and for the first time, I wanted to buy buy buy. I broke down and bought two winter scarves.

A couple of narrow side streets were crowded with vendors selling food: dumplings; barbecued chicken, squid, and fish; fresh papaya salad; eggs; and parcels of spices. Silver bowls of noodles, rice, vegetables, tofu, fish, sausage, and meat covered large tables and customers could pay 10,000 kip for a plate of food (8,000 = $1).

 I squeezed behind a table sitting on a rickety bench hemmed in on all sides by people as Ian started loading up a plate. Soon after a woman came over and asked me to move down to allow more people to sit and that was it for me – it was too crowded and I was getting claustrophobic. I left Ian to eat solo and made a beeline for the street where there were less people and some fresh air.

Even though the food, as reported by Ian, was just okay, it was a neat (and cheap) experience.

The following day, Ian and I were off again on the scooters only this time we were making the 37km trek to the Kouang Si Falls, a multi-tiered waterfall with crystal pools of water. The drive to the falls was lovely.

The road surprisingly smooth and not at all busy. However, there were a few sketchy bridges to cross – you're suppose to drive on the boards…

 But still, the scenery along the way had to admired –

We arrived at the falls in under an hour and ventured out onto the path through the woods. Our first stop was a bear sanctuary that held Asiatic bears. They were quite small with very long fuzzy hair and all were dark. The area looked clean and the bears appeared well cared for and content.

The waterfalls were especially pretty and although it was still quite chilly, some tourists were swimming.

Ian and I had brought our suits but it was too cold for us – especially after our drive. We made our way up the path stopping to admire the beauty of the waterfalls.

Our last stop was the 60m waterfall with its path up the side. We admired the falls from below and then Ian and I started up the path.

A tourist coming down said the path was very slippery and not really worth the effort so I bowed out but up Ian went.  I had a splendid time sitting watching the many different varieties of butterflies and listening to the birds. Ian returned and said the path wasn’t too bad until you go to the second level, then it was straight up taking you to the top with a non-existent view. I was glad I hadn’t bothered.

We had such a great time on those scooters – saw lots of gorgeous scenery we wouldn’t have been able to appreciate from a van.

 It was well worth the money to rent them. Driving was fun and easy and the scenery breathtaking.